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If it will ease your mind, Blandamour, I will accompany Lady Isaura. I'm afraid recent events may have left Galadria a bit on edge. She seems far too eager to let her sword do her talking recently. Perhaps a bit of rest and relaxation would be beneficial before we face this dragon.
I interceded on behalf of one of the druids, so I may be able to enter thier village without causing further hostilities.
And...if it is a trap, I will be able to bring Isaura and myself back to the castle here straightaway."
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Kellen smiles slyly at the three "lights". He has seen their kind before and knows full well how quick and agile they are. They will provide the perfect test for his skills.
He adjusts the rythm of his Bladesong and takes a swipe at the first faerie, which it dodges easily. He continues to turn and makes rather straightforward strikes at the other two as well. Neither of these come close either, but Kellen isn't trying to hit them just yet. Instead, he is watching their reactions and seeing movements they make to avoid his strikes. He then adjusts his dance accordingly and sends his blade whistling even faster through the air.
Faeries are naturally mischievous, and this game is great fun for them. They easily avoid the blade, and dash in towards the wild elf's eyes, dazzling him with their glowing "faerie light". They also continue to taunt him, hoping to break his concentration.
"He really is as slow as dwarf", says one.
"And only slightly better looking", says another.
"I think he IS a dwarf, or at least the son of one. Have either of you ever seen a true elf this short and chunky?"
That last comment almost succeeded in disrupting the BladeSong. Comparing an elf to a dwarf is a tremendous insult, but Kellen's mentor taught him to ignore such frivolous distractions during the course of battle.
AS he blade moves faster, the faeries find themselves actually being pressed a little to avoid the whirling pattern. The elf has begun to anticipate their movements and started striking at where they are going rather than where they are.
Thier "dazzling lights" are a bit harder to ignore. Part of his training required him to strike several fruits suspended at different heights and swinging in various directions while blind-folded. He had track them by smell and "feel" the movement air around the fruits and cleave them cleanly in two. But the fruits were larger and slower than the faeries, and not nearly as bright. So Kellen decided to trust his training and close his eyes. He found that he could hear the buzzing of the faeries wings and follow it if he concentrated enough. Still, try as he might, he simply couldn't match their swift agility.
Time for a little magical aide. He took his left hand off the hilt of his katana and reached into a pouch on his belt. His right hand continued the hypnotic rythm of the Bladesong as he quietly chanted words from a long-dead language. When the spell was complete, a surge of arcane energy flowed through his body, magically enhancing his reflexes. The low soft whistling of his sword became a loud buzz as the blade suddenly increased tremendously in speed. The first faerie was taken completely by surprise and knocked to the ground before he could flit out of the way. The second faerie lasted only a few moments longer before he was also "tagged". The third faerie found itself using all of its speed and agility to dodge the nearly invisible blade. Even it's enhanced vision was having difficulty following the blade's path.
He relied on the pattern the Bladesinger had been following and made his moves accordingly. Unfortunately, the very nature of a Bladesinger is to adapt to changes in their opponents strategy.
To his credit, the faering avoided the blade for several moments, but finally zigged the wrong way and fell to the ground beside its' companions.
Kellen bent down to make sure the creatures were not harmed, then began laughing. He truly enjoyed testing his skills and these 3 creatures had given him one of the biggest challenges he had ever faced.
He puts his sword away and sits down cross-legged next to the 3 small faeries.
"I wish to thank you, friends, for one of the best challenges I have ever faced. I am called Kellen. How may I address you?"
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